The Bruins announced today that they have signed goaltender Maxime Lagace to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level. Signed by the Vegas Golden Knights as an undrafted free agent before the start of the 2017-18 season, Lagace, 26, appeared in only one game for them last season, letting in four goals and sporting a 0.871 SV% in the loss. The previous season, the Knights struggled with goalie injuries, and he ended up appearing in 16 games, owning a 3.91 GAA and 0.867 SV% over that span. Those are not pretty numbers, but the Bruins signed him solely a depth goalie who will play in the AHL but can swing up for a few games if necessary. With that in mind, this is a good signing. For the Chicago Wolves of the AHL last season, Lagace sported a 2.43 GAA and 0.914 SV% in 33 games. These are strong numbers and show that while he isn’t ready for the NHL, Lagace is a good goalie at the AHL level. He also played in three playoff games last year for the Chicago Wolves, where he posted less than stellar numbers (3.34 GAA and 0.865 SV%) as his team marched to the Calder Cup Final where they eventually lost in five games, but did so as the apparent back-up and so a lot of it can probably be blamed on having a long stretch of time off in between starts. Even though the P-Bruins already have Daniel Vladar and Kyle Keyser as goaltenders next season, I like this signing a lot because they will still get plenty of starts and the addition of Lagace should push them to be better. I’m happy with this signing, as it’s a good depth signing and I was a little worried as to what he was up to when Sweeney said he’d be in the goalie market today. He clearly didn’t have faith in Vladar or Keyser to be able to swing up and fill in for Rask or Halak in the event either gets injured, as he probably shouldn’t have, so it was a smart move going out and getting an older guy who can do so and push those two to be better.
Welcome to Boston, Max!
Hockey Addict 